MATCH REPORT: Phoenix suffer Ignite Cup loss in Heartland to Hawks

The Illawarra Hawks took full advantage of the lack of defensive pressure from the South East Melbourne for 71 points in the first half on the way to the 120-110 win with Davo Hickey starring, and Kelan Martin and Milton Doyle combining for 11 three-pointers.

The Phoenix hosted the Hawks at the State Basketball Centre in the Ignite Cup by 7-Eleven match up and they needed to put in an improved defensive showing, and better all-round effort having lost their past two and parted ways with import guard Skylar Mays.

The Hawks arrived playing a fourth straight game on the road and still no prospect of getting back to Wollongong until Sunday as they tried to bounce back from an eventful Saturday night in Adelaide.

South East Melbourne shot out of the blocks with the first eight points of the game, but Illawarra took control from there outscoring them 71 to 46 the rest of the first half.

That was on the back of shooting 72 per cent from the field, 7/14 from deep and a combined 33 points on 7/7 three-point shooting from Doyle and Martin.

The Illawarra lead ballooned to as much as 20 in the third quarter and even though South East Melbourne won the third quarter 27-24 and the fourth 29-25 to claim two Ignite Cup points, it was a more emphatic Hawks win than the 10-point margin suggests.

The Hawks improve to 5-9 and finishing up shooting 56 per cent from the field and 13/32 from downtown with Hickey flirting with a triple-double. He ended up with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Doyle ended up going 6/7 from deep for 22 points and four assists with Martin shooting 5/7 for 27 points and four rebounds.

Makur Maker had another 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, while fellow big man Sam Froling came off the bench and started well on his way to nine points and five rebounds.

The Phoenix are now 4-8 with D'Shawn Schwartz finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds, Nathan Sobey 19 points and nine assists, Dash Daniels 17 points, three rebounds and two assists, Angus Glover 15 points and four assists, and Pat Ryan nine points on 4/8 shooting in 19 minutes.

It was a big game for both teams occupying two of the last three positions and the Phoenix started hot with the first eight points including triples from D'Shawn Schwartz and Nathan Sobey.

The Hawks responded, though, to outscore them 28-15 the rest of the first quarter to be up five by quarter-time with Milton Doyle knocking down three from long-range and Sam Froling responding to coming off the bench with six points on 3/3 shooting.

Illawarra then did as they pleased at the offensive end in the second quarter with the Phoenix unable to find any sort of defensive bite to stop them.

The Hawks piled on 43 points in the frame on the back of 15/19 shooting from the field and 4/6 from downtown along with going 9/9 at the free-throw line.

That saw them go into half-time leading 71-54 with Doyle making another three ball for 14 points while Kelan Martin went 3/3 from the outside for 19 points while big men Makur Maker and Froling combined for 18 points.

The Phoenix might have won the third quarter to at least claim a point in the Ignite Cup with 27 points to 24, but still they were down 14 at three quarter-time even with Doyle adding another pair of threes for Illawarra to be up to 20 points on 6/6 shooting from beyond the arc.

It was an irate Phoenix coach Josh King in the last quarter as he implored a defensive lift from his team but after one timeout, he had to call another straight after one defensive possession when his players didn’t do as instructed.

The final scoreline did flatter South East Melbourne thanks to 29 points to 25 in the last quarter but the Hawks' win was more impressive than the 10-point margin suggests.

The Phoenix will try to hit back in another Throwdown against Melbourne United earlier that same evening.

FULL TIME STATS

Schwartz 22p/8r/1a
Sobey 19p/9a/3st
Daniels 17p/3r/2a
Glover 15p/3r/4a
Ryan 9p/1a
Morin 7p/3r/2a
Krebs 6p/11r/2a
Aliir 6p/6r/4a
Davidson 5p/1r
Hunter 4p